CITAC today released the ‘2005 Millionaires Club’ of Byrd Amendment recipients showing that five companies received over half of the total $226 million Byrd Amendment payouts in 2005 and that 80% percent of the payouts went to only 34 companies. CITAC released the list following the publication of the FY2005 Byrd Amendment payouts by U.S. Customs and Board Patrol. More than $1.26 billion in Byrd Amendment payouts have been distributed since 2001, with more than one-third going to The Timken Company and its subsidiaries.

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“Why is the U.S. government continuing to pay millions of dollars to big companies through a government-funded subsidy that distorts competition?

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Enacted in 2000 by Congress without hearings or debate, the Byrd Amendment redirects antidumping and countervailing duties from the U.S. Treasury to those companies that petitioned or supported antidumping and countervailing duty actions. All other customs duties are deposited to the U.S. Treasury.

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The Timken Company, a Fortune 500 Canton, Ohio-based producer of ball bearings and steel tubing, and its subsidiary MPB Corporation, took in the highest Byrd payments, totaling $81.2 million or approximately 36 percent of the total FY2005 disbursements.

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Three other top Byrd Amendment recipients were Emerson Power Transmission, an Ithaca, NY-based bearings company ($16.6 million); Lancaster Colony Corporation, a Columbus, OH-based candle company ($11.4 million) and AK Steel Corporation ($7.1 million), a Middleton, OH steel producer. (See list of $1 million-plus recipients to be posted at http://citac.info/.)

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Companies in the steel and steel-containing products sectors by far received the largest Byrd payouts, totaling $154 million. Other sectors that received substantial government payouts include food products, such as honey, pasta, and catfish ($26 million); candles ($21 million), and fibers ($5 million).